Separate optogenetic manipulation of Nerve/glial antigen 2 (NG2) glia and mural cells using the NG2 promoter.

Nerve/glial antigen 2 (NG2) is a protein marker of NG2 glia and mural cells, and NG2 promoter activity is utilized to target these cells. However, the NG2 promoter cannot target NG2 glia and mural cells separately. This has been an obstacle for NG2 glia-specific manipulation.

Optical manipulation of local cerebral blood flow in the deep brain of freely moving mice.

An artificial tool for manipulating local cerebral blood flow (CBF) is necessary for understanding how CBF controls brain function. Here, we generate vascular optogenetic tools whereby smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells express optical actuators in the brain. The illumination of channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2)-expressing mice induces a local reduction in CBF.

NO-mediated signal transmission in bladder vasculature as a therapeutic target of PDE5 inhibitors. Rodent model studies.

Background And Purpose: While the bladder vasculature is considered as a target of PDE5 inhibitors to improve bladder storage dysfunctions, its characteristics are largely unknown. Thus, the functional and morphological properties of arteries/arterioles of the bladder focusing on the NO-mediated signal transmission were explored.

Experimental Approach: Diameter changes in rat bladder arteries/arterioles were measured using a video-tracking system.

Effect of circadian rhythm type on serum lipid levels in shift workers: A 5-year cohort study.

We investigated how differences in circadian rhythm type affect the health of workers engaged in shift work. Employees, who were newly hired in a steel company between 2007 and 2011, received the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) survey. The target participants were 153 male shift workers who were not being treated with any antihyperlipidemic drugs and underwent periodic physical examinations including blood tests at least twice.

Benchmark dose of alcohol consumption for development of hyperuricemia in Japanese male workers: An 8-year cohort study.

Background: To estimate the benchmark dose (BMD) and their 95% lower confidence limits (BMDL) of alcohol consumption as the reference level for the development of hyperuricemia based on the dose-response relationship.

Methods: An 8-year prospective cohort study was conducted in 8097 male workers at a Japanese steel company who received annual health check-ups between 2002 and 2009. The endpoints for development of hyperuricemia were defined as a uric acid ≥7 mg/dL or taking any anti-hyperuricemic medication.

Dose-response relationship between tobacco or alcohol consumption and the development of diabetes mellitus in Japanese male workers.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the dose-response relationships between tobacco or alcohol consumption and the development of diabetes mellitus.

Methods: An 8-year prospective cohort study was conducted in 8423 male workers who received annual health check-ups between 2002 and 2010 at a Japanese steel company. The endpoints were defined as an HbA(lc)≥6.

The influence of being overweight on the relationship between shift work and increased total cholesterol level.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to clarify the influence of shift work on serum total cholesterol (T-Cho) levels according to body mass index (BMI) at entry in Japanese male workers.

Methods: A 14-year prospective cohort study was conducted in day workers (n = 4079) and alternating shift workers (n = 2807) who received annual health check-ups between 1991 and 2005 in a Japanese steel company. The association between job schedule and increases in T-Cho was investigated using multivariate pooled logistic regression analyses with age, BMI, lifestyle (smoking habit, drinking habit, habitual exercise), and the results of blood chemistries (creatinine, glycosylated hemoglobin A1c, aspartic aminotransferase, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, uric acid) serving as covariates in those who were not overweight (BMI < 25 kg/m(2), n = 5082) and overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2), n = 1804) at entry, respectively.

Estimation of the benchmark duration of shiftwork associated with weight gain in male Japanese workers.

The authors estimated the benchmark durations (BMDs) and their 95% lower confidence limit (BMDL) for the reference duration of shiftwork for weight gain. A 14-yr prospective cohort study was conducted in male workers at a Japanese steel company (n = 7254) who had received annual health check-ups between 1991 and 2005. The endpoints in the study were either a 5%, 7.

Calculation of the benchmark duration of shift work associated with the development of impaired glucose metabolism: a 14-year cohort study on 7104 male workers.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to calculate the benchmark doses (BMD) and their 95% lower confidence boundary (BMDL) for the threshold number of years of shift work associated with a relative increase in haemoglobin A1c (HbA(1c)), an index of glucose metabolism.

Methods: A 14-year prospective cohort study was conducted in male workers at a Japanese steel company (n=7104) who had received annual health check-ups between 1991 and 2005. The endpoints were either a 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% or 30% increase in HbA(1c) levels during the observation period, compared to HbA(1c) at entry to the study.

Longitudinal effect of smoking cessation on physical and laboratory findings.

Background: Detailed information on the expected physiologic changes after smoking cessation is practically useful to encourage people to stop smoking. Furthermore, weight increase after cessation may affect such physiologic changes.

Purpose: This article aims to evaluate the effect of smoking cessation on annual changes in body weight, blood pressure, and blood biochemistry.

Estimation of the benchmark duration of alternating shift work associated with increased total cholesterol levels among male Japanese workers.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the benchmark doses (BMD) and their 95% lower confidence limits (BMDL) for the threshold number of years of alternating shift work associated with a relative increase in serum total cholesterol level (T-Cho), as an index of lipid metabolism.

Methods: We conducted a 14-year prospective cohort study among male workers (N=6886) at a Japanese steel company who had received annual health check-ups between 1991 and 2005. The endpoints were either a 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 or 45% increase in T-Cho levels during the observation period, compared to T-Cho at baseline.

Shiftwork and impaired glucose metabolism: a 14-year cohort study on 7104 male workers.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of shiftwork on hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level, as an index of glucose metabolism. A 14 yr prospective cohort study was conducted on day (n = 4219) and alternating shiftworkers (n = 2885) who received annual health checkups between 1991 and 2005 at a Japanese steel company. The endpoints were either a 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, or 30% increase in HbA1c during the period of observation, compared to HbA1c at entry to the study.

Longitudinal evaluation of the effect of smoking initiation on body weight, blood pressure, and blood biochemistry.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of smoking initiation on annual changes in body weight, blood pressure, and blood biochemistry.

Methods: This study analyzed the results of annual health examinations from 1991 to 2005 in male Japanese workers. Subjects who started smoking (n=214) initially responded as non-smokers in a self-administered questionnaire (baseline year) and then answered consistently as smokers for 3 subsequent years.

Smoking as an independent risk factor for hypertension: a 14-year longitudinal study in male Japanese workers.

There have been few large longitudinal studies on the relationship between smoking and blood pressure and those results have been inconsistent. The aim of this study was to clarify the influence of smoking on the onset of hypertension. A 14-year longitudinal study was conducted in Japanese male workers at a steel company between 1991 and 2005.

Benchmark duration of work hours for development of fatigue symptoms in Japanese workers with adjustment for job-related stress.

The objective of this study was to calculate benchmark durations and lower 95% confidence limits for benchmark durations of working hours associated with subjective fatigue symptoms by applying the benchmark dose approach while adjusting for job-related stress using multiple logistic regression analyses. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 3,069 male and 412 female daytime workers (age 18-67 years) in a Japanese steel company. The eight dependent variables in the Cumulative Fatigue Symptoms Index were decreased vitality, general fatigue, physical disorders, irritability, decreased willingness to work, anxiety, depressive feelings, and chronic tiredness.

Shift work is a risk factor for increased blood pressure in Japanese men: a 14-year historical cohort study.

To clarify the effect of shift work on blood pressure in Japanese men, a 14-year historical cohort study was conducted in day workers (n=3963) and alternating shift workers (n=2748) who received annual health checkups between 1991 and 2005 in a Japanese steel company. The end points were a >or=10%, >or=15%, >or=20%, >or=25%, or >or=30% increase in systolic blood pressure or diastolic blood pressure from baseline during the period of observation. The association between shift work and an increase in blood pressure was investigated adjusting for age, body mass index, hemoglobin A1c, total serum cholesterol, creatinine, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, uric acid, drinking habit, smoking habit, and habitual exercise by multivariate pooled logistic regression analyses.

A longitudinal study on the effect of shift work on weight gain in male Japanese workers.

Objective: This study compared the effect of alternating shift work and day work on weight gain in Japanese male workers.

Methods And Procedures: A longitudinal cohort study was conducted in day workers (n = 4,328) and alternating shift workers (n = 2,926) of a steel company who received annual health checkups over a 14-year period between 1991 and 2005. The association between the type of job schedule and weight gain was investigated using multivariate pooled logistic regression analyses.

Relationship between shift work and hypercholesterolemia in Japan.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to clarify the influence of shift work on total cholesterol levels in serum in male Japanese workers.

Methods: Pooled logistic regression analyses were applied in this 14-year cohort study of 5510 male workers in a steel company. In examining how the adjustments influenced the results, the effect of shift work on the onset of hypercholesterolemia (>or=220 mg/dl, 5.

Estimation of benchmark dose as the threshold amount of alcohol consumption for blood pressure in Japanese workers.

In order to determine the threshold amount of alcohol consumption for blood pressure, we calculated the benchmark dose (BMD) of alcohol consumption and its 95% lower confidence interval (BMDL) in Japanese workers. The subjects consisted of 4,383 males and 387 females in a Japanese steel company. The target variables were systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressures.

The relation between cumulative fatigue and marital status in Japanese workers.

The authors' aim in this study was to clarify the influence of marital status on mental and physical fatigue symptoms. For 5,582 men and 484 women workers, the authors determined odds ratios of marital status using positive findings of 8 subscales on the Cumulative Fatigue Symptoms Index (CFSI) as dependent variables and other potential covariates as independent variables by logistic regression analysis. In men, the odds ratios for decreased vitality, physical disorders, decreased willingness to work, anxiety, and depressive feelings of CFSI were significantly higher in the unmarried group.

Estimation of benchmark doses for urinary cadmium based on beta2-microglobulin excretion in cadmium-polluted regions of the Kakehashi River basin, Japan.

A benchmark dose low (BMDL) is used as a replacement for the no observed adverse effect level. The threshold levels of urinary cadmium (Cd) as BMDL were estimated using data from the Kakehashi River basin. The target population (>or=50 years) comprised 3178 and 294 participants inhabiting Cd-polluted and non-polluted areas, respectively.

Estimation of benchmark dose for renal dysfunction in a cadmium non-polluted area in Japan.

Previously, the association between urinary cadmium (Cd) concentration and indicators of renal dysfunction, including beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)-MG), total protein and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) were investigated in 1270 inhabitants > or = 50 years of age (547 men, 723 women) in a Cd non-polluted area in Japan and showed that a dose-response relationship existed between renal effects and Cd exposure in the general environment without any known Cd pollution. However, the threshold levels of urinary Cd could not be estimated at that time. In the present study, the threshold levels of urinary Cd were estimated as the benchmark dose low (BMDL) using the benchmark dose (BMD) approach.

Long-term longitudinal study on the relationship between alternating shift work and the onset of diabetes mellitus in male Japanese workers.

Objective: This study investigated the effect of alternating shift work (ASW) on the onset of diabetes mellitus in Japanese workers compared with onset in day-shift work (DSW).

Methods: A longitudinal study was carried out on a DSW group (n = 3203) and ASW group (n = 2426) of a steel company who received their annual health checkups over a 10-year period between 1991 and 2001. The association between job schedule type and onset of diabetes mellitus (glycated hemoglobin A1c > or =6.

Benchmark dose of working hours in relation to subjective fatigue symptoms in Japanese male workers.

Purpose: We used a multiple logistic regression model to calculate benchmark doses (BMDs) and their 95% lower confidence bound (BMDL) of working hours for subjective fatigue symptoms.

Methods: A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted in 3069 male daytime workers between the ages of 18 and 60 years who worked in a Japanese steel company. Dependent variables were positive findings for eight properties by using the Cumulative Fatigue Symptoms Index (CFSI): decreased vitality, general fatigue, physical disorders, irritability, decreased willingness to work, anxiety, depressive feelings, and chronic tiredness.

Estimation of benchmark dose as the threshold levels of urinary cadmium, based on excretion of total protein, beta2-microglobulin, and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase in cadmium nonpolluted regions in Japan.

Previously, we investigated the association between urinary cadmium (Cd) concentration and indicators of renal dysfunction, including total protein, beta2-microglobulin (beta2-MG), and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG). In 2778 inhabitants 50 years of age (1114 men, 1664 women) in three different Cd nonpolluted areas in Japan, we showed that a dose-response relationship existed between renal effects and Cd exposure in the general environment without any known Cd pollution. However, we could not estimate the threshold levels of urinary Cd at that time.